The present invention relates to improvements in store point of purchase displays, particularly of the "pusher" type.
It is well known in merchandising products to use "pusher" type product displays to keep products neatly arrayed on a shelf and easily accessible to customers. Examples of point of sale displays of this sort can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,597 to Groff, disclosing a dispenser in which boxes of cigarettes and cigars are passed to the front of the display. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,707 to Crum includes a pusher assembly for packaged meats to keep them at the front of the display.
The Crum and Groff patents are exemplary of prior displays in which rectangularly shaped, unbreakable packages are displayed in a pusher type display. This has been known to work well for packages having these characteristics.
However, for other types of goods, pushers of this sort have not been adopted. In particular, grocery stores have a particular portion of the store known as the "glass aisle" in which products traditionally packaged in glass jars and bottles are commonly displayed. These includes salad dressings, ketchup, mayonnaise, pickles, relishes and the like. These product packages tend to be made of glass, with a screw-on top. As a result, the container is breakable. Those of ordinary skill in the retail merchandising area have not heretofore seen it possible to merchandise such products in a pusher point of sale display. The denseness of the packaged product requires a strong pushing force to cause them to move, the resulting inertia causes them to continue to move once started, and their fragility suggests that the risk of pushing them off the shelf and causing breakage is too great to permit that type of display of such a product.
Nonetheless, various advantages are known which would accrue if a pusher type package could be used with such goods.
As Crum points out, rotation of stock is highly desirable, so that as shelves are being restocked, the older, existing inventory is located at the front of the shelf, with the newer fresher goods being located behind. Thus, when a customer takes the product off of the front of the shelf, the older products are being consumed, so that the products on the shelf do not become stale or out of date. Crum also points out that it's important for the products to have the product label facing the customer and a pusher type display can yield that benefit. Finally, as Crum points out, pusher type displays can keep the product organized on the shelf in a regular and attractive fashion. However, with Crum and the other pusher devices of the prior art do not provide is a way to obtain all of these advantages for the "glass aisle," so this need continues in the art.